Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 154: Chapter 150 Wu Family Castle of the Wu family

Xie Yuan, temporarily take on the role of garrison commander, investigate the situation of farm fields in each garrison, remeasure and reassign them. Can you do this?

Yang Zhenshan asked in a deep voice.

”Your subordinate will do his utmost!” Xie Yuan stepped forward, cupping his fist in salute and bowing.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, looking towards Yang Minghao standing outside the door.

”Ming Hao, can you handle being the defense officer of Shaling Castle?”

Yang Minghao, standing outside, was stunned, then immediately overjoyed, hastily running into the hall, ”Master, your subordinate can do it well!”

A hint of surprise flashed in Xie Yuan’s eyes; he understood what Yang Zhenshan was implying.

By appointing his own son as the defense officer of Shaling Castle, he was reducing his influence and control over the castle.

It was a test, to see if he was loyal or not. If he still clung to Shaling Castle in the future, it would show he had ulterior motives.

Understanding all this, Xie Yuan felt no resentment but instead quite agreed with Yang Zhenshan’s methods.

As a leader, the most important thing is control—over subordinates, government offices, and everything else.

Without the most basic control, one is merely a clay Buddha.

Clearly, Yang Zhenshan was not a clay Buddha.

”Wu An!” Yang Zhenshan turned his gaze once again to a young man in the hall.

Wu An, the garrison commander of Wu Family Castle, eighteen years old, with delicate features, appeared to be an innocuous young man.

Wu Family Castle was a bit special in that all military households within it bore the Wu surname, and the position of garrison commander had always been held by a member of the Wu family for nearly a hundred years.

The reason for this was that a hundred years ago an ancestor of the Wu family was once a Commander, leading to the rise and expansion of the Wu family. Although they have since declined, their foundations remain.

After a century, the Wu family has evolved into a Martial Arts Family, albeit a smaller one; nevertheless, they have always controlled Wu Family Castle.

Tian Gui had previously considered bringing the Wu family under his sway, but he was bluntly rebuffed and ignored by them.

Later, Tian Gui also tried to make trouble for the Wu family but ended up backing down quietly, presumably warned off by the family.

According to the Secret Martial Guards, the Wu family had at least two postnatal sixth-layer Martial Artists, with more than thirty Martial Artists altogether.

No one would want to provoke such a family without good reason.

”Er, your subordinate is here!” Wu An did not expect Yang Zhenshan would call on him.

Although he was the garrison commander of Wu Family Castle, in reality, his father was the one in charge.

His role as garrison commander was mostly for show, and aside from joining official activities, he had very little actual responsibilities.

As for the deeds committed by Tian Gui, the Wu family did not get involved.

In short, it was a case of ’If you call me, I’ll come, but don’t ask me to do anything specific, I’m just a figurehead.’

”You will take up the role of defense officer at Shuiquan Castle,” Yang Zhenshan said while stroking his beard, smiling amiably.

”Ah!” Wu An looked at Yang Zhenshan in astonishment.

The Wu family had always been honest and modest, never aspiring to high-ranking positions. Or rather, they had abandoned such ambitions in the last twenty years.

The reason being, the elders of the Wu family had long recognized the decline of Chongshan Town.

”Isn’t that inappropriate, Master?” Wu An said with some trepidation.

”What’s inappropriate about it?”

”Your subordinate is young and inexperienced, I’m afraid I may not be up to the task!”

Yang Zhenshan laughed, ”Ming Hao is my son, only sixteen this year, and he can manage. Why can’t you?”

”This~~” Wu An glanced at Yang Minghao standing beside him and inwardly grumbled.

He can manage because his father is a garrison officer, but my father is not.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard and smiled, ”If you think you are not up to it, then let your father do it! Your father has also served as a garrison commander!”

In fact, Wu An had only been garrison commander for half a year; it was his father, Wu Chongzhe, who had previously held the position.

However, Wu Chongzhe truly could not be bothered with the insincerity of people like Tian Gui, so he pushed his son into the role.

But what Yang Zhenshan wanted was not Wu An, but Wu Chongzhe.

Wu Chongzhe, with postnatal sixth-layer cultivation, was exceedingly powerful; it was such a waste to have someone so capable staying at home all the time.

If it weren’t for the fact that Wu Chongzhe did not hold an official title at that moment, Yang Zhenshan would have liked him to take on the role of garrison commander.

”Go back and discuss with your father, and give me an answer within three days!” Yang Zhenshan didn’t give Wu An any chance to refuse, finalizing the matter then and there.

After all, one of you, father or son, must take up this position of defense officer, it doesn’t matter which.

It would be best if the father is willing, but if not, then let the son take the role.

And if the son becomes responsible, how could the father remain uninvolved?

Yang Zhenshan was quite determined with the Wu family.

Han Cheng and Xie Yuan, hearing Yang Zhenshan’s words, both revealed knowing smiles.

As natives of An Yuan City, they were naturally aware of the Wu family’s circumstances.

That Yang Zhenshan set his sights on the Wu family was expected to them, and if Yang Zhenshan hadn’t thought of it, they might have even reminded him.

”As for the vacant garrison commander position, Xie Yuan, you three discuss and arrange it,” Yang Zhenshan continued.

”Yes!”

Xie Yuan and Yang Minghao responded first, and Wu An, with no alternative, stepped forward and complied as well.

Yang Zhenshan was pushing Wu An into a corner: even if Wu An didn’t want to do it, he couldn’t refuse—at least not right now.

If he refused now, he would be slapping Yang Zhenshan’s face and rejecting Yang Zhenshan’s goodwill.

Although the Wu family was a separate entity, they could not afford to casually offend the garrison officer.

At the very least, it wasn’t Wu An’s place to decide; it was a matter for his father to determine.

Everyone left, and Yang Zhenshan kept Han Cheng and Song Dashan behind, and the three of them went to the study.

”The first batch of soldiers’ basic training is now complete, and it’s time to start training the second batch!”

Yang Zhenshan spoke softly, seated behind his desk.

”Reporting to Master Yang, this subordinate has made arrangements, and the second batch of soldiers will begin training tomorrow!” Han Cheng said.

Yang Zhenshan nodded, ”Just see to the training; that’s all you need to do.”

Initially, Xie Yuan had felt uneasy about Yang Zhenshan’s method of training troops. However, now that the first batch of soldiers had completed their basic training, he had become familiar with these methods.

With the assistance of Song Dashan, there was no need for Yang Zhenshan to spend too much effort on this.

”There’s another matter; you should temporarily step down from your Bazong position,” Yang Zhenshan said, looking at Han Cheng, who maintained a calm expression. ”Tomorrow, General Wang’s eldest son Wang Sheng will arrive in An Yuan City, wanting to learn our way of training soldiers. It would be a good idea to let him serve as the Bazong first!”

Saying this, Yang Zhenshan revealed a faint smile.

Han Cheng’s eyes lit up, ”Mr. Wang will stay in our garrison?”

”Whether he stays or not is up to you!” Yang Zhenshan laughed.

Three days ago, Wang Bin personally wrote a letter, saying that Wang Sheng would come to An Yuan City and requested Yang Zhenshan to take good care of him.

From the letter’s tone, Wang Bin merely wanted Wang Sheng to observe and learn, but how could Yang Zhenshan let this juicy opportunity slip away?

Indeed, in Yang Zhenshan’s eyes, Wang Sheng was a piece of fat meat.

It didn’t matter if it was nepotism or a second-generation military scion; what was important was that this person could bring many benefits to Yang Zhenshan.

As long as there were benefits, not to mention a military scion, even if it were a clay Buddha, Yang Zhenshan would cherish it.

What benefits could Wang Sheng bring?

With Wang Sheng there, Wang Bin would not overlook anything regarding An Yuan City’s garrison office, no matter what happened.

With Wang Sheng there, if Yang Zhenshan needed to handle anything in Songzhou Guard, it would certainly be twice the result with half the effort, and Yang Zhenshan could even directly hand over matters to Wang Sheng to deal with.

With Wang Sheng there, should there be any need to offend someone, Wang Sheng could be the one to take the brunt.

Han Cheng also knew the benefits of keeping Wang Sheng, so he agreed without any reservations.

...

The next morning.

Yang Zhenshan personally, accompanied by Han Cheng, went out of the city to welcome Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng did not come alone; he brought a dozen attendants, along with over a hundred soldiers, and transported over thirty carts of supplies.

Seeing the long line of carts, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t stop smiling.

Look at that, a living Bodhisattva!

He has just arrived and already brought with him a big gift.

Over thirty carts of supplies, full of provisions and armaments.

It was clearly Wang Bin’s doing.

”Meeting Master Yang!” Wang Sheng approached and first dismounted to pay his respects.

Yang Zhenshan chuckled and said, ”My dear nephew, please rise! Hahaha~~”

Last time, it was Wang Sheng who was eager to ingratiate himself with Yang Zhenshan, sometimes calling him ’Uncle Yang’ and other times ’Uncle.’ Now it was Yang Zhenshan’s turn to return the favor.

He had to recognize this ’dear nephew,’ not only recognize him but also take good care of him.

”Uncle, how have you been?” Wang Sheng laughed.

Although he was a second-generation general, he was not a wastrel; otherwise, he would not be coming to learn military training methods from Yang Zhenshan.

Seeing Yang Zhenshan calling him ’dear nephew,’ he went along with Yang Zhenshan and called him ’Uncle.’

”Good, very good!” Yang Zhenshan said with a beaming smile, ”It’s cold out here, let’s go back and talk!”

”Mr. Han, please take care of these brothers!” he instructed.

”Rest assured, Master, I will take good care of our brothers!” Han Cheng promptly replied.

Only then did Yang Zhenshan take Wang Sheng back to the garrison office.

”Has General Wang been busy lately?”

The two of them sat in the teahouse as wisps of tea vapor rose, chatting about domestic affairs.

Since the other party called him ’uncle,’ it meant that the families had established a connection, so naturally, they chatted about family matters.

”It’s been alright, nothing too urgent recently,” Wang Sheng said.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard and nodded. Although the words sounded mundane, they conveyed quite a bit of information.

No urgent matters meant that Jia City was not preparing for war, which meant that Chongshan Town was unlikely to launch a campaign this year and that the East Sea Hu Clan was still relatively stable.

Afterward, the two of them chatted for a great while about family matters, with most of the conversation being Yang Zhenshan inquiring about the Wang family’s situation.

Wang Bin was not a noble with titles, but the Wang family had produced many military officers, especially Wang Bin’s father, who had served in the Central Army Commander’s Mansion as a Secondary First rank General and Deputy Magistrate.

Regrettably, Wang Bin’s father died too soon, succumbing to illness in his early fifties; otherwise, the Wang family might have been even more illustrious.

The Wang family’s base was not in Chongshan Town, but in Eastern Shandong.